Hello Again
by TheSouthernScribe
Summary: Damon Salvatore returns to Mystic Falls for the wedding of his favorite little witch. Is he there to support or ruin the wedding. Future fic inspired by Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' and a little scene from one of my other favorite shows.
1. The Return

_I know I have open fics and I also have a block again. This idea has been tugging at my brain for a week. I wrote it out and split it into four parts. I'll post it all this week. It's a future!fic. Enjoy. Thank you guys for always reading my stuff and being such a huge support. _

_**I. The Return**_

Bonnie Bennett was getting married.

Damon had put nothing but space between himself and the little witch, his little witch since that night and her rejection, but for some reason when that phantom link appeared in his inbox, he'd clicked. There was only one person that could have sent it, sweet little Jeremy Gilbert. The boy she'd gone to the ends of the Earth to protect. She'd bartered with angry, long dead witches, and even faced off with Klaus, the devil himself, just so he could live.

The witch had never done anything for him. That was a lie, in time they'd grown to become friends, confidants. She had listened to his ranting and raving about Elena and Stefan. She had even orchestrated the plan that reunited the Bella and Edward of Mystic Falls. Yet in the process, Bonnie had missed the signs, the long lingering looks Damon offered. The tender way he pushed her hair behind her ear. He had been the one on the other end of the phone when she called, voice choked by tears, at the consequences of her spell. He'd stood by her side and insulted her out of depression when Gilbert said he needed time because of the bullshit, filling his ears from jealous and deceased ghosts of his ex – girlfriends. He was the one that she gave her most precious gift to in a moment of weakness. It had been more than sex, more than an exchange of blood, she was part of him, and knowing that she had chosen someone else, killed what was left of his spirit.

The image was still engrained in his mind. A tiny little Bonnie standing next to a bigger, adult Jeremy, her eyes filled with love, and her features distorted by the bliss that came from their almost kiss. There was a caption under the picture about their engagement and the date of their pending nuptials. He had scrolled the site, reading the story he already knew.

The first time they met…

_She kicked him in the shin._

Their first real date…

_A movie and dinner at the Grille…a date he'd stalked and watched unfold before his eyes…_

Their first kiss…

_He felt the bile in the back of his throat…was it possible for an undead being to have bile…_

The proposal…

The dress…

The venue…

The bridesmaids…

The best man…or men…

_How in the hell had Gilbert managed to steal his brother - Stefan and his former best friend – Alaric_

Those same two had told him to leave well enough alone. They had urged him to stay away despite the invitation that made it to his PO Box.

If Jeremy insisted on torturing him in such a passive aggressive manner then he would have to deal with seeing his face in the audience. He would have to pray that when the minister asked, if anyone objected, Damon wouldn't stand and carry the bride to be away.

Fuck their happily ever after. Just once he wanted to get the girl.

**_~`~Hello Again~`~_**

Damon didn't worry about formalities when he stepped into the hall. He heard the chime of the glasses, listened to the soft music that played. Her father was there, a massive arm tossed across boy wonder's shoulders. Lucy had even returned for the festivities, eyes glistening with tears. Hope was a funny thing; she saw her own hope in her baby cousin's happiness. Maybe they weren't doomed to be Bennett witch spinster's who made their way to an early grave. Caroline and Elena twirled around to the music filtering through the speakers. The latter all aglow with the new beauty bestowed from fresh immortality, his brother finally had the nerve to turn his wife.

Then his eyes found her.

She was still small, tinier than anyone in the room, but her eyes, held a wisdom that no one else there knew, no one but him. Her breasts were fuller, her hips curvier, no doubt a response to the constant attention her fiancé paid to her body. It made Damon quiver and long for the nights where they fought or fucked. No one knew her the way he did.

He entered the room without pomp or circumstance, stopping by the bar for a drink, and taking his seat next to one of the bride's less attractive cousins. Jeremy hadn't expected him to attend. He couldn't wait to see what his little surprise visit would do to all that false confidence.

Damon listened as faces he didn't know talked about the happy couple; a frat buddy from the University of Virginia, a sorority sister from Hampton. They all filled his ears with sickeningly sweet tales of the happy couple's love.

It was all bullshit.

Duty and honor kept her bound to that prat and he knew it, if only he could prove it. She was in love with the fairytale, the promise of a normal life, but Bonnie Bennett was anything but normal. She was a powerful ball of energy that held the power of a coven of witches in the palm of her hand. Why was she settling for the white picket fence and suburbia, when she could have had New York, Milan, or Paris. She could have had him and together they would have had it all.

He swallowed his drink, relishing the burn in his chest as Tyler stood to speak. He saw the wolf when his nostrils flared, waited for the gaze to sift him out of the crowd, and when it did he tipped a champagne flute in Lockwood's direction.

A series of gasps followed as realization traveled across the room.

Damon Salvatore was back and at least ten people in attendance knew why. He stood making his way from the back of the hall. Navigating the narrow space between the tables, draining flute after flute of Moet, along the way, until he reached the podium.

He pushed Tyler from his place behind the microphone and stared at the bride to be.

"Fuck, you're gorgeous." Bonnie's lids lowered to shield her eyes, "Do you know that, you're fucking beautiful?" Damon lifted his glass high, "To Bonnie Bennett, the one I let get away." He took a slow sip, still keeping her in his sights, "The one I promise to reclaim."


	2. The Reason

_I guess all of you missed my rounds of Damon and Bonnie. _

_Thank you. It feels really good to be missed. _

_As promised here's today's edition. There's a little flashback featured in this one. There will be one in the next part also. Stay tuned…more to come_

**II. The Reason**

Damon swerved to avoid the fist directed at his face. A left hook followed and he caught that with the hand not occupied with molesting the stem of his champagne flute. He took another sip; still looking pass the obviously irritated not quite groom to the girl he came home for. She was stunned silent. Her eyes locked on him and the chaos erupting around them. He still had the ability to surprise her, granted he was sure it would result in a vampire migraine or flambéed Salvatore on the plates of the guests, but he had Bonnie, right where he wanted her. He dropped his attacker's hand and took a step back.

"Try again little boy."

Jeremy was flustered, his face red, eyes enlarged, and a stream of glorious curse words that were sure to impress one Mr. Bennett leaving his lips.

Elena was the first to ask the question everyone was dying to know the answer to, "What are you doing here?"

"Leaving," Caroline gripped the back of his jacket and attempted to drag him from the elevated stage, but he refused to budge.

"I've got years and experience on you blondie."

Vampire Barbie gave up and joined a bewildered Elena beside Bonnie.

Jeremy lunged for him again, but this time, Stefan laced his arms beneath the prick's armpits and put him in a hold reminiscent of Rick Flair's glory days. Damon's amusement bubbled over, or maybe it was the champagne. It always went straight to his head. The room buzzed as the whispers grew louder and louder.

_I heard she cheated on Jeremy with him…_

_Why would anyone pick Gilbert over a Salvatore…_

Oh wait, that last thought had been his.

_Poor little bitch looks like she's going to cry…_

_She's such a slut…_

_I never liked her; little miss goodie two shoes…_

Damon knew if he could hear those words, Bonnie could feel the emotions that accompanied them; hatred and jealousy circulated in the air. She shook, her eyes glazed over, and finally she exploded.

The sound of the ice sculpture shattering into hundreds of pieces silenced everything, talk, blinking, and even breathing.

Petite Bonnie Bennett stood there, eyes filled with hatred, hands extended in front of her, as her chest rose and fell with the stress of her laborious breathes. The flames of the candles blazed and the energy in the room shifted. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention. He adored an angry Bonnie. She was sexy and dangerous in those moments. He fought the budding strain he felt in his pants. Now was not the time for that, they would have a private reunion later and he'd show her how much he missed her, how much her body needed him.

The whispers started again and Damon read the intentions in the frown that hung on her lips.

"Enough."

Silence reigned again. Her voice shook with the command. Her body trembled as she stepped forward. She shirked off the comforting touches of her friends, bypassed the arms of the man she was supposed to marry, until she reached him.

She studied his face for a long time, categorizing his features, beginning with his eyes, nose, cheek bones, and finally his lips. He saw a flash of something, remembrance, possibly regret, but there was inkling of a foreign emotion. He felt it when it passed between them.

_What do you want Damon?_

Bonnie didn't have to open her mouth to ask her question. The words rung loud and clear in his head, but he chose to answer out loud.

"All I want is you."

She sent him sailing over tables and chairs with the flick of her wrist. He couldn't discern if it were Caroline, Elena, or Stefan that complained about the incumbent need for compulsion to erase the memories of the bystanders with their jaws on the floor.

Damon loved it, "Shit Bennett, I've missed our foreplay."

**~`~b~`~d~`~b~`~d~`~**

_Late Spring 2011_

Bonnie came to Damon, the bottom of her dress stained with mud, and black tears cascading down her cheeks. She'd called him repeatedly in the last hour and he'd refused to answer the phone; staring at the number on his screen and ignoring the bubbly voice he thought waited on the other end. It was prom night and she was off playing princess with the world's most irritating boyfriend.

At least that is what he had assumed, until he opened the door, and found the disheveled girl on his doorstep.

His thumb immediately brushed across her cheek, stopping the fresh tear that fell. He pulled her inside and gathered her in his arms. He was ready for whatever she had to offer.

Jeremy's neck torn to shreds by rabid vamps…

A broken heel on her stilettos…

The worse DJ ever behind the turntables…

He never expected her to say, "He dumped me."

Damon prepared his speech. The useless one about her being eighteen, fine as hell, and young enough to fall for a thousand more guys with bigger dicks than Jeremy Gilbert. His words fell on deaf ears as she sobbed. She ruined a perfectly good silk tee with supposedly waterproof liner and mascara. He didn't complain, he just wrapped his arms around her and let the tears fall and her fists pound his chest.

She was spent when it was over, curls plastered to her forehead, face worn and warped from wasted time crying, and her dress bunched around her legs to reveal the smoothest thighs he'd ever seen.

His mind drifted but he reeled his animalistic nature in and averted his gaze. It was too late; she had seen the way his eyes traveled across her skin.

Bonnie shifted her weight until she settled his lap. His arms stayed in place around her waist. When she lowered her head, he knew what was next, but instead of avoiding the contact, he eased forward.

Their lips brushed and the first thing he tasted was her loneliness.

It had been hell, working so closely with her in the past few weeks to find Stefan and destroy Klaus. He'd always admired her fight; questioned her devotions of love to a kid who changed social classes like underwear. He never meant to fall under the young witch's spell.

His fangs pricked her bottom lip when she deepened the kiss and slipped her tongue into the warmth of his mouth. He groaned from the brief taste.

Her blood was an illegal substance.

An aphrodisiac…

A hallucinogenic…

It sent him on an uncategorized high.

He responded to the effects she created. Sliding the palms of his hands down her back and beneath the gown she wore. Her body was warm and in perfect contrast to chill of the digits that traced her core. He wanted her, now, more than he had in dreams or illicit fantasies. He blamed their friendship but if he were honest, his addiction to Bonnie started with the first prick of her veins by the ruins.

What she wanted could be felt in the tips of her fingers that played against the nape of his neck. He could hear her body's desire. He heart strummed a loud, painful beat that resonated in his chest. It matched everything he had hidden in the preceding days.

"Not like this Bonnie."

He struggled in vain to push her away.

Her lips moved to his neck, she nipped at the icy flesh, and laved at the phantom pulse that ignited under tongue. The beast soon had control. In the distance he could hear the fabric of her dress ripping to shreds. Bonnie was a virgin, she didn't have to say the words, he could smell it, the innocence in her blood still hung on his tongue. He lost the battle for gentleness and forgot what her first time should be, removing his pants and filling her in two quick movements.

Bonnie cried out in pain, her fingers digging into his back through his shirt. She rode the wave of his insanity, taking every thrust he offered until he was satisfied. He tore into her flesh with viciousness and not once did she attack. She turned her head and offered more of the length of her neck for his pleasure.

"I'm sorry," Damon whispered when the madness had subsided.

Her face was pale and her eyes heavy with an eternal sadness he wanted to desperately erase. She held the side of her neck shielding the damage he'd done from his view. He was a monster and he'd hurt the last person he ever intended. She'd suffered too much pain at his hands. He refused to cause her anymore. He bit into his wrist and offered her a drink. He never expected her to accept it, but she did.

He watched as her neck healed before him. The color returned to her cheeks and his arousal mingled with the scent of hers in the air.

This time he was gentle.

Removing what remained of her dress.

Kissing her tear stained cheeks.

He watched her bloom under his lips. Her body writhed and her mouth moaned as he touched the most intimate parts of her.

"I'll always want you…only you…"

His hands gripped her face and forced her to stare into her eyes. It wasn't compulsion; it was brutal truth, the only kind he had to give.

Damon rocked Bonnie back and forth in his lap, yearning for her walls to clinch around him, and when they finally did, he knew that neither of them would ever feel complete with anyone else.

**~`~d~`~b~`~d~`~b~`~**

Damon stood and brushed the ice from his clothes.

Bonnie's attack had sent him on a trip down memory lane and he was sure by the sight of her retreating form, those same images were just as hard for her to bear.

He ran out the room after her.

This time he wasn't walking away without his girl.


	3. The Reveal

_I'm kind of sorta in love with all of you. _

_Thank you for the tremendous response to this story. We're on the downturn. One more update to go. This time, we get a little of Bonnie's side of the story. _

_**III. The Reveal**_

"I can't do this."

Those were the words Bonnie whispered to herself when she closed, locked, and barricaded the storage room door. She took a deep breath, trying to the steady the emphatic rhythm of her heart. It was impossible, her ribs ached from the arduous beats and she was growing dizzier by the minute.

"Perfect." She groaned. It was just what she needed, a front page news story about the almost bride of twenty - five who died in a windowless room during her rehearsal dinner. Outside her father kissed the ground his future son - in - law walked on, her best friends, Caroline and Elena, planned baby showers for children that hadn't even been planted in her womb, and the love of her fucking life walked through the door to send it all to hell.

When she shut her eyes and began to recite anything, spells, song lyrics, her ABCs, icy blue eyes filled her mind and the reaction started all over again. This was her when _he _was around. It hadn't always been this way; just here and now, because denial was a powerful enemy, and she was fighting a futile battle. She exhaled and allowed her eyes to navigate the dark room. For the moment she was safe and sound, away from warring emotions and hostile murmurs. She just needed some time to gather her head. She slid to the floor and there amidst the boxes of decorations for her big day, Bonnie Bennett began to cry.

At least seven years had passed since the last time she laid eyes on Damon Salvatore. Four of those years were spent keeping her head above water while she double majored in History and Sociology. The rest of her time divided between activities for the pink and green, university choir, and the man she was going to marry in less than forty - eight hours. She stayed busy. Occupying her mind so she couldn't think of his laugh, the cool contours of his pale chest, or the way his lips knew every inch of her body.

They had no future. "I don't want to be a vampire Stepford wife." That was what she had said.

Her argument had amused him but when he asked her to make a real choice, her only response was to turn her back and walk away. Every single day she regretted that decision. She had failed not only him, but her self. Seven years of phony smiles and half hearted attempts at making a relationship work. She still couldn't tell Jeremy that she loved him with conviction. It was impossible, because those words had been reserved for someone else.

"Bonnie."

Damon's voice was like finely spun silk on the other side of the door.

"I can't do this."

The words dripped from her lips.

"Yes you can," He'd heard her, he always listened, "Just open the door."

Sooner or later Bonnie had to face him. She wiggled a finger and the fortress of boxes scattered. She heard the lock disintegrate under the force of his strength. Light from the hall flooded her hiding place and she had never been happier to see a blood thirsty vampire in all her life.

**~`~b~`~d~`~d~`~b~`~**

_Late Summer 2011_

"I haven't heard from you."

The box flew from Bonnie's hands and landed on the ground beside her father's SUV. She hadn't felt a breeze or heard a footstep, but he was there.

Her eyes never met his as she consumed herself with moving boxes and bags into the back of the vehicle.

"I've been a little...you know...busy." She allowed her voice to take a hardened edge. "Living, you know it's what people who breathe do."

His hand reached for her and she nearly crumbled. He was right, she was purposely avoiding him. She continued the dance. He didn't, opting to help her load her things.

"Damon, what do you want?"

For the first time since his arrival, she buckled and stared into his eyes.

"You."

She turned her back and headed for the house.

"So he crawls back to you...he cries...he apologizes...we're over."

"There is no _we_!" Completely exasperated she threw her hands in the air, when she spun around she saw her Damon; the vulnerable man who only wanted someone to love him. Instead she tried to break him, "Is that so hard for you to understand."

Her hair circled her face, with the gush of wind that preceded and followed his speedy movement.

"I understand that for four months, I've done things to you," His eyes cascaded down her body in a lascivious manner as he snaked a finger around a loose curl, "that there is no amount of penance in this world to cover."

She took a breath, her body responding to the images his words provoked. Nights she discovered new ways to please him with the use of her lips and tongue. The various positions years of dancing and tumbling aided their bedroom adventures. He'd ruined her for anyone else and that was obvious the first night she spent reunited with her ex.

"I know that you love me, that some deep part of you," His knuckles brushed against the curve of her jaw before drifting down the column of her neck, "hates Jeremy for his self righteous dick - like move to honor the wishes of two heartless ghost bitches."

She tried to walk away, but his fingers lingered on the faded spot where his fangs had pricked her vein numerous times. Speaking was a formality but there had been too many exchanges between them, a bond had formed, and words were unnecessary. She knew how he felt.

The weight that resided in his chest...

The pain that burdened his blackened heart...

She shared it all.

"You listen to me Bonnie. You give me hell when I fuck shit up." She tried to look away, but he held her face in place with a gentle hand, "Why?"

She knew what he was asking. The question she had refused to answer since the dynamics of their friendship changed.

Jeremy had pleaded between thoughtfully placed kisses. He'd encouraged with fingers that traveled up her thigh. She had said no.

It wasn't a broken heart or revenge that caused her to offer her innocence the monster that had once tried to kill her.

"I wanted you to always be a part of me."

His hand fell from her face.

"That was then and this is now." Even as the tears filled her eyes, "There's no future with you. No happily ever after...no wedding...no babies...just..."

"Death."

He finished her statement and she nodded.

It was her turn to comfort him; she wrapped her hands around his waist and pulled him closer. She kissed him, softly, sweetly, and for a period of time that was longer than she intended.

Then Bonnie delivered her fatal blow, "You didn't ask for this life, someone else decided for you, and now you're asking me to choose." She paused, "I can't do that."

**~`~d~`~b~`~b~`~d~`~**

Neither one of them made a move, unless you counted sealing the door, to drown out the rest of the world.

"You can't marry him." Damon folded his arms across his chest and in that second she realized how much she missed the sound and smell of leather, "You don't love him."

"I do." His eyes stretched with the revelation, "But not like I love you."

The space between them was erased literally and figuratively.

Bonnie didn't fight when Damon's arms wrapped around her and lifted her off the ground. She bit into her bottom lip and watched as his eyes turned black and beautiful veins adorned his face. A kiss that resembled a battle more than a moment of affection, followed, and she knew that was only the beginning.

_I wanted you to always be a part of me._

Seven years had passed and he still was embedded in every fiber of her being. She thought of him when sipped an aged cognac on cold days. His name lingered on her tongue when the man who shared her bed took her from behind. She could feel his presence on the edge of her consciousness. She knew when he was happy, sad, afraid, and just plain lonely.

He had feelings...

The fortified wall that encased his human nature had been destroyed.

He was there fighting for her and she didn't have the strength to walk away again.

She had never been _that_ powerful.


	4. The Resolution

_Well, angels, this is it. The final installment. Thank you so much for reading. _

_Billi appreciate the encouragement and the nudging to bring the idea to life. Readers thank you for your reviews, alerts, and favorites. Stay tuned, you know I have a soft spot for these two, so there will always be more. _

**IV. The Resolution**

_Old habits die hard…_

It was something Sheila Bennett always mumbled under her breath and at that moment Bonnie longed for the wisdom and strength she found in one of her Grams' hugs. At the end of the night someone's heart would be broken beyond repair and it very well could be her own.

Damon Salvatore wasn't a habit.

He could not be classified as an addiction.

He was a need.

With each day that passed, a piece of her died without his presence. Now in his arms, fingers tangled in the dark strands of his hair, she felt whole. Her body reanimated and her heart threatened to take flight. Things fell into place with one touch and each subsequent kiss. She knew when to graze her teeth along the bend of his ear, the exact moment brush her body against his to elicit that delicious moan that made her skin crawl with new lust and the secret words to whisper only for him to hear.

She had missed him…

She had missed this…

She had missed them…

Gently she teased his lips, opting for a quiet passion instead of the rage they had initially enjoyed. She didn't stop him when he tugged at the zipper on the side of her dress. She felt the heat rush to her cheeks when he gave her that look. The one that explained in totality what he planned to do to her. He took his time, letting his eyes fall at various locations, breasts that fit perfectly in the palm of his hand, the roundness of her behind covered in black lace, and legs that desperately needed to find their place wrapped around his waist.

She pushed the jacket from his shoulders and tugged at the shirt tucked into his pants. Feverishly she worked to remove every scrap of material that kept her from feeling the coolness of his skin next to hers. She closed her eyes, committing the moment to memory. New sensations filled her when his thumb brushed across her nipples. Her heart raced when a solitary digit trailed a line from her cleavage to her belly button and finally dipped inside the warmth between her thighs.

He kissed her again, filling her with an insatiable need, his insatiable need for more.

And then one name ruined it all.

_Jeremy…_

Bonnie's thoughts drifted to the man who had been patient, waiting for the day when she would get over Damon Salvatore. They both believed with clouded doubts that she had reached that point when she accepted his proposal. She wanted it to be true. She needed it to be true.

In spite of the temporary heartbreaks, what the witch felt for the future hunter was real. A part of her had fallen for him the day she bruised his shin with her foot. Their connection had grown deeper as he carried her secrets and supported her throughout her magical journey.

Bonnie loved Jeremy; she just wasn't in love with him. That fact made him bitter. She saw the light that once warmed his brown eyes dim. She knew he had sent the invitation, a final twist of the figurative stake in the vampire's heart. What Jeremy thought would end the war for the girl, only reignited the battle.

"What do you want Bonnie?"

The sound of Damon's voice trailing along the column of her neck pulled her from her internal musings. It was a baited question designed to hurry them to the next level in their reunion. Her body wanted it, but her heart and mind needed to make things right before she could have peace in any decisions made.

"Forgiveness."

His attention to her skin stopped and she felt him move away from her. She regretted the words and mourned the loss of contact. However, when their eyes met, she found sympathy and understanding.

"I'm sorry."

His brows lifted when she spoke those words. It was something he wasn't use to hearing. Usually the declaration was demanded of him.

"I made a mistake. I can admit that now. I know there's no excuse for the things I said and did that hurt you…"

She would never get use to the speed at which he moved. The lack of effort expended to go from point A to B and place a finger on her lips fully intent on silencing her plea.

"Little witch, it took me seven years to come back and fight for you, I'm sorry."

Damon's eyes were bluer when they were glazed over with tears. She brushed the drops away from his lashes and smoothed her fingertips along his cheeks.

"I have to talk to Jeremy."

He didn't move. He watched as she slipped her body back into her dress. He went when she asked for help with the zipper. He held her when she tried to move for the door.

"If I lose you again…"

Bonnie shook her head unwilling to hear what was on the other side of the pause. His grip tightened when she turned to the door.

"Seven years Bonnie Bennett," Her heart began to ache again and she felt the tears well at the corners of her eyes, "I saw you when I tried to feed, fuck, or kill. He's had you all this time and he doesn't deserve you."

She heard his desperation but still she pressed on.

"Damon…"

Only the increasing discomfort in the arm he refused to release silenced her debate.

"No, this time, you listen, fry my brain, set me on fire, stake me, but listen to the fucking words I have to say."

Bonnie nodded.

"I watched you grow from the insecure little cheerleader, to a woman filled with fiery passion," She shivered when his fingers brushed the inside of her palm, "You never let me settle for being anything less than Damon Salvatore. You loved the monster, the beast, and the little boy who only wanted to be loved."

She felt the first tears spill onto her cheeks.

"You hid your true self from everybody but me. The light and dark, you gave it all. Do you really want to spend the rest of your days pretending to be queen of suburbia when you can just be Bonnie with me?"

He let her go when he finished.

He didn't fight or reach for her again when she walked out the door.

Bonnie wasn't surprised to find Jeremy waiting in the hall. His face twisted in a combination of anger and hurt. He twirled his father's ring around his finger.

"Protects from supernatural death," He released a strained laugh, "But not the kind of death that comes from heart break."

She stepped closer and he raised his hand to stop her from speaking. His eyes were a muddy brown and rimmed in red. This was inevitable; the goodbye, the end of their time together. She hoped that one day they would be friends, but she couldn't keep living this lie.

"Jeremy, I can't do this to you."

"What fuck another man at our rehearsal dinner?" He raked his fingers through his hair, blowing out a frustrated sigh, "Shit, I did this. I thought it would be enough to keep him away; the idea of you being Bonnie Gilbert; the thought of the punk kid finally getting one up on the vampire."

She was growing more irritated with his entitled attitude by the minute.

"I'm not a piece of property."

Something in his face changed.

"I never said you were." His tone softened and his eyes closed, "I only wanted you to be happy and I thought I could give you that." He shook his head, "Selfish, I didn't want him to win. I didn't want to give you up. I needed you but not as much as he did." Even Jeremy understood the dependence she shared with Damon, "In the end your heart never stopped beating for him."

She slipped the ring from her finger, "I never meant to hurt you."

"Funny, I did mean to hurt you," Jeremy studied the cut of the diamond avoiding her gaze, "I just couldn't let go."

A soft smile graced her lips, "I know…been there…"

She brushed the messy strands from his forehead and allowed her hand to rest against his cheek, "I love you Jeremy Gilbert."

Jeremy kissed Bonnie's forehead, "I love you too Bonnie Bennett," and then he turned and walked away.

Bonnie was still crying when she felt the arm tighten around her waist. Willingly she allowed Damon to spin her around to face him.

"Hey."

Her voice shook as it echoed through the hall.

Damon lifted a lock of hair and tucked it behind her ear, "Ready to try this again, you're getting older by the minute and when you hit thirty I'll be too damn hot to stay with an hold lady."

The smirk returned to his lips and he waited, impatiently for answer.

Bonnie stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him. Yes she still wanted the life, the babies, the love, but she knew it would never be enough without Damon. They would find a way to have it all.


End file.
